Unpredictable

Craig held Stacy closely to his chest. They embraced tightly as he shielded her from the outside, crouching below the window of the cozy brown shed.     

Craig was a Xuxlor, a hybrid of a human and a plant. Stacy on the other hand, was human, his true love. He convinced her that she'd be safer with him. He wasn't to know otherwise. He wasn't to know the destruction or the terror that was to befall them. Oh if only he'd predicted that his 106 of his siblings would be sliced down! Only two remained - but Craig hadn't managed to find them. It was a miracle finding Villany once he and Stacy returned home.              

Craig remembered that exact moment when he found Stacy - huddled on the floor - grime smothered all over her body. He remembered that sweet, precious moment when she lifted her head; when those big blue eyes blinked with joy. He held out a green hand on that fateful February day. His warmth chilled the snow at the surface as the flames arose at the slightest grace of his hand. The mehtaphorical flames of passion that burned. The snow above melting from the explosions melting any snowflakes before they touched the ground. Stacy herself was hidden, away from the destruction above her. 

Back on Earth, she had nothing left. The Third World War took everything from her. The 2040s were worse than the first great depression. People fought hard for anything and everything - Stacy's whole life, gone. Brutally murdered by gangs, her parents left her orphaned, her friends became slaves. Craig knew the only way she survived was by being beneath the ground.                       

When he found her, her clothes were stained and she smelt very strongly of body odour. The smell protruded into his nose. He saw past this though, seeing her flowing blonde locks and baby blue eyes which lured him in.   

Ever since, he hadn’t known a stronger bond.    

The Zenacogs outside chased Villany down the hill. Craig felt the need to do something, to save her, but watched helplessly as she tumbled into the lake, the splash reaching up into the sky. He stared, waiting a few seconds. She didn’t resurface. He lowered his head, defeated, yet caught a glimpse of bubbles arising to the surface.                                             

His last friend still had a chance �" but those Zenacogs were staring down the barrels of their guns �" waiting for her to come up for air.                                              

He looked to Stacy. He thought he had saved her from Earth, only to bring her to another world of conflict. It wasn’t his fault though; he wasn’t to know that by the time he’d return to Cranto - his home world �" it would be in as much ruin as hers.                               

He looked very deeply into her eyes; that doe eyed expression reflecting his fearful face.                             

He looked a lot like her, blonde, blue-eyed, but with green skin.                       

 With his special abilities, he should’ve been able to conquer the beasts outside, but as he looked at Stacy, he realised they were both mere mortals. They looked similar and looked evermore weak in comparison to the aggressive enemy that awaited them.                             

Unlike them, Villany wasn’t so vulnerable. She was an adult, yet they were still only sixteen and seventeen. Unlike them, she had this mature air about her, her sleek physique matching that of a model’s and with such unique chestnut hair, Villany was a stand out from the crowd.  She was the one who lead them forward �" and managed to survive the war by using her exceptional hypnotic powers. Out there, she used them to manipulate the attacking race.          

Craig wanted to fight them too, but what could he do? The three of them against an army of foes...the Zenacogs may’ve looked like half-dog half-human creatures but they weren’t stupid. They outsmarted Craig’s race. How could his race, the Xuxlors, be so blind?    

When the Zenacogs first got there they spoke so eloquently, they had such a pleasant manner. They made productivity soar. These guys were tactful and were great in their logic. Everything they did was calculated and every single gamble they made turned in their favour. The Xuxlors hadn’t seen these dogs as a threat �" only as strong, worthy allies, that made them extremely wealthy. They should’ve seen it though. They hadn’t thought. The Zenacogs were bound to want something from them.                     

Cranto.                                  

They were determined to kill off every last Xuxlor. They wanted Cranto for their own, after their home planet was destroyed.                   

When Craig returned home with Stacy, his first discussion with Villany was all about the development from friends to enemies.                 

Even then, Villany couldn’t understand why the Zenacogs didn’t want to share. Cranto was surely big enough for multiple races; and since the Xuxlor race wasn’t very highly populated, the Zenacogs could have continued leaving in harmony with them. Of course, the Zenacogs were a ruthless race and having thrived for so long as a species, the Xuxlors were merely inferiors.            

Craig was proving the Zenacogs right. He was an inferior, quaking below the window of the compact shed. He hadn’t much choice �" those vicious beasts were out there slaying people every day. They seemed to have endless ammo and being trigger happy only made them more dangerous, more unpredictable.